1262.01 POSITION OF ZONING ADMINISTRATOR ESTABLISHED; APPOINTMENT; OFFICIAL RECORDS; COMPENSATION
(a) The office of Zoning Administrator of the Township of Lawrence Park, Pennsylvania, is hereby established.
(b) The Zoning Administrator shall be appointed by the Board of Township Commissioners as prescribed by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, being the Act of July 31, 1968 (P.L. 805, No. 247), as amended.
(c) An official record shall be kept of all business of the Zoning Administrator and shall be open to public inspection at all appropriate times.
(d) The compensation of the Zoning Administrator shall be determined by the Board of Township Commissioners.
1262.02 DUTIES AND POWERS OF ZONING ADMINISTRATOR
The Zoning Administrator shall interpret and enforce all the regulations and provisions of this Zoning Code.
(a) Applications, Permits, and Certificates of Use and Occupancy. The Zoning Administrator shall receive applications for and issue permits and certificates of use and occupancy.
(b) Annual Report. At least annually, the Zoning Administrator shall submit to the Board of Township Commissioners a written report of all permits and certificates of use and occupancy and notices issued and orders acted upon.
(c) Registration of Nonconforming Uses and Structures. The Zoning Administrator shall identify and register all nonconforming uses and structures that:
(1) Existed at the time this Zoning Code was adopted; or
(2) Are created by subsequent amendment of this Zoning Code.
(d) Right of Entry. The Zoning Administrator shall have the authority to enter at any reasonable hour any structure and/or land in the Township to enforce the provisions of the Zoning Code. A letter of his/her authority shall be provided by the Board of Township Commissioners and shall be displayed for the purpose of identification.
(e) Imposition of Late Filing Fee. The Zoning Administrator has the right to impose a late filing fee on anyone failing to obtain a proper permit required by this Zoning Code prior to the start of construction. The fee will be set by Resolution of the Board of Township Commissioners.
1262.03 PERMITS AND CERTIFICATES OF USE AND OCCUPANCY GENERALLY
(a) Permit Required. It shall be unlawful to erect, enlarge, construct, reconstruct, or structurally alter any building and/or other structure in the Township, or change the use or intensity of use of any building and/or other structure and/or land in the Township, or extend or displace the use of any building, other structure and/or land in the Township, without first filing an application with the Zoning Administrator in writing and obtaining the required permit therefor. A permit shall also be required when a business changes hands or reopens after a one-year period of closure.
(b) Certificate of Use and Occupancy Required. It shall be unlawful to use and/or occupy any building, other structure and/or land for which a permit is required until a certificate of use and occupancy for such building, other structure and/or land has been issued by the Zoning Administrator. The application for issuance of a certificate of use and occupancy shall be made at the same time an application for a permit is filed with the Zoning Administrator.
(c) Forms of Application. The application for a permit and a certificate of use and occupancy shall be submitted in such form as the Zoning Administrator may prescribe and shall be accompanied by the required fee as established by the Township.
(d) Authorized Applicants. Applications for a permit and a certificate of use and occupancy shall be made by the owner or lessee of the building, other structure and/or land or agent of either or by the contractor, engineer, or architect employed in connection with the proposed work. If the application is made by a person other than the owner in fee, it shall be accompanied by a duly verified affidavit of the owner or the qualified person making the application that the proposed work is authorized by the owner in fee and that the applicant is authorized to make such application. The full names and addresses of the owner, lessee, applicant and of the responsible officers, if the owner or lessee if a corporate body, shall be stated in the application.
(e) Description of Work. The application shall contain a general description of the proposed work, its location, the use and/or occupancy of all parts of the building, other structure, and of all portions of the site or lot not covered by the building, and/or other structure and use of land, proposed parking and/or loading facilities if required herein and such additional information as may be required by the Zoning Administrator.
(f) Plot Plan. There shall also be filed not less than one copy of a plot plan showing to scale at least the following:
(1) The size and location of all new construction and all existing buildings and/or other structures on the site, dimensions and area of the lot, distances from lot lines, the location of streets, and established street grades;
(2) All existing, proposed, extended and/or new uses of buildings, other structures and/or land;
(3) Proposed and existing parking and/or loading facilities if required herein; and
(4) Such additional information as may be required by the Zoning Administrator. It shall be drawn in accordance with an accurate boundary line survey. Where complete and accurate information is not readily available from existing records, the Zoning Administrator may require an applicant to furnish a survey of the lot by a registered engineer or surveyor. Each applicant shall be required to attest to the correctness of the data and statements furnished in the application.
(g) Expiration of Permits. If work described in any permit has not begun within ninety days from the date of issuance, the permit shall expire, and written notice to that effect shall be given by the Zoning Administrator to the persons affected.
If work described in any permit has not been substantially completed within one year of the date of issuance, the permit shall expire, and written notice to that effect shall be given by the Zoning Administrator to the persons affected. Work as described in the cancelled permit shall not proceed unless a new permit is obtained.
1262.04 ACTION ON PERMITS AND CERTIFICATES OF USE AND OCCUPANCY
(a) Action on Application. The Zoning Administrator shall act on all applications for a permit within ten business days after filing. If the requirements of this Zoning Code are satisfied, a permit shall be issued. Disapproval of a permit shall be in writing to the applicant.
(b) Posting of Permit. The permit issued by the Zoning Administrator shall be posted at the work site until the permit expires or the certificate of use and occupancy is delivered.
(c) Revoking a Permit. The Zoning Administrator may revoke an issued permit in the case of any false statement or misrepresentation of fact in the application for the permit. Notice of revocation shall be given in writing to the application.
(d) Notification Upon Completion of Work. Upon completion of the permitted work and prior to use and occupancy, the holder of the permit shall notify the Zoning Administrator of such completion. Within ten business days after receiving notice of completion, the Zoning Officer shall conduct a final inspection of all permitted structures and/or land. If the Zoning Administrator is satisfied that the completed work conforms with the issued permit and complies with this Zoning Code, he/she shall issue a certificate of use and occupancy for the use indicated in the permit within fifteen business days of notification of completion of work.
1262.05 FEE SCHEDULE
No permit shall be issued until the applicant pays the respective fee prescribed by the Township. A permit fee schedule shall be established by resolution of the Board of Township Commissioners.
1262.06 NOTICE OF VIOLATION
(a) If the Zoning Administrator shall find that any of the provisions of this Zoning Code are being violated, he/she shall notify in writing by sending the owner(s) of record of the parcel on which the violation has occurred, to any person who has filed a written request to receive enforcement notices regarding that parcel, and to any other person requested in writing by the owner of record, notice as set forth in subsection (b) hereof.
(b) An enforcement notice shall state the following:
(1) The name of the owner(s) of record and any other person against whom the Township intends to take action.
(2) The location of the property in violation.
(3) The specific violation, with a description of the requirements which have not been met, citing in each instance the applicable provisions of this Zoning Code.
(4) The date before which the steps for compliance must be commenced and the date before which the steps must be completed.
(5) That the recipient of the notice has the right to appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board within a prescribed period of time in accordance with procedures set forth in this Zoning Code.
(6) That failure to comply with the notice within the time specified, unless extended by appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board, constitutes a violation, with possible sanctions clearly described.
1262.07 STOP-WORK ORDERS
(a) Notice to Owner. Upon notice from the Zoning Administrator that work on or use or occupancy of any building, other structure and/or land is contrary to this Zoning Code, such work shall be immediately stopped. The stop-work order shall be in writing to the owner of the property involved and shall state the conditions under which work or use shall be resumed.
(b) Conditions of Discontinued Work. Any person who has been served with a stop-work order or discontinues or abandons work shall not leave any building, other structure and/or land in such condition as to be a hazard to the public. The Zoning Administrator shall have the power to require that such building, other structure and/or land shall be put in such condition as he/she directs and the work on it shall be at the full expense of the person who has been served with a stop-work order.
1262.08 PROSECUTION OF VIOLATIONS
If the notice of violation is not complied with, the Zoning Administrator and/or the Township Solicitor shall institute the appropriate proceedings to correct the violation.
1262.99 PENALTY
Whoever violates or fails to comply with, or permits a violation of or noncompliance with, any of the provisions of this Zoning Code, for which another penalty is not provided, shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township, pay a judgment of not more than five-hundred dollars ($500.00) plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Township as a result thereof. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied, or payable until the date of the determination of a violation by the District Justice. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgement, the Township may enforce the judgement pursuant to the applicable rules of civil procedure. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation, unless the District Justice, determining that there has been a violation, further determines that there was a good faith basis for the person violating the provision to have believed that there was no such violation, in which event there shall be deemed to have been only one such violation until the fifth day following the date of the determination of a violation by the District Justice and thereafter each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation. All judgments, costs and reasonable attorney fees collected for the violation of this Zoning Code shall be paid over to the Township.